Automatic car-brake



u L w 8 w m S I m 2 h e. M n J vd m Lfl Darn. EBa B M& AC H0 U .& m .0 t u EA d 0 M 0 WITNESSES By is Attorneys .Z'lZyberZ' 7 .15. C Eamberh'w,

(No Model.) 3'Sheets- Sheet ,2.

- E. v. s. OHAMBERLIN, Automatic Car Brake. No. 243,210. Patented June 21,1881.

& m mum K 1 3 F .4 2 l WITNESSES By 7 1 Attorneys Egbert V8.0Werlzlw? N. PETERS. Ninth-Lithograph". \vamin lon. u. c

(No Model.) 3 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

E. V. S. CHAMBERLIN. Automatic Car Brake. v No. 243,210. Patented June 21,1881.

WITNESSES I LN VEJVTOR UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EGBEBT V. S. GHAMBERLIN, OF DUBUQUE, IOWA.

AUTOMATIC CAR-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 243,210, dated June 21, 1881.

Application filed May 1, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EGBERT V. S. CHAM- BERLIN, of Dubuque, in the county of Dubuque and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Car- Brakes, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

The object of my invention is to provide an automatic car-brake to be applied in connection with the ordinary spring draw-bars of rail: road-cars, and to be normally in the position of braking by the force of the spriu gs of the drawbars, and to be in the idle position whenever the ordinary pushing or pulling strain is exerted uponthe draw-bar to start the car from the condition of rest.

Accordingly my invention, stated in general terms, consists in the combination, with an ordinary spring draw-bar of a car, or with the ordinary spring draw-bars at opposite ends of a car, of an automatic brake mechanism, which I will now proceed to describe in detail by reference to the accompanying drawings, and which will operate in the manner above specified.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a bottom-plan View of a railroad-car with my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a central longitudinal seotion'on line 3 3 of Fig. 5. Fig. 4 is a central longitudinal section through line 4 4 of Fig. 5. Fig. 5 is a transverse section on line 5 5 of Fig. 3. Fig. 6 shows a modification of my invention.

Aindicates a vertical reciprocating bar passin gthrough a main cross-beam, B, of the truckframe, and provided with a coiled spring, 0, which tends to keep it in an elevated position.

Pivoted to the bar A are two bars or togglelevers, D D,'again pivoted at their outer ends to the cross-beams E E of the ordinary brakeshoes F F of a four-wheeled truck.

G G indicate metallic straps or hangers secured to the cross-beam B, or in other convenient position, from which depend the brakeshoes by means of rings or loops H H. Instead of these hangers and rings, any suitable connection betweentlie brake-shoes or their cross-beam and the cross-beam B or the carbottom Y which will admit of motion of the brake-shoes up and down will serve as well.

Secured or pivoted perpendicularly to each cross-beam E E is a stop-bar, I I, which normally extends upward about on a level with a block, K, secured to the cross-beam B.

It is obvious from the consideration of the construction and relation of the partsjust described that when the spring 0 elevates the bar A it will cause the toggle-levers D D to withdraw the brake-shoes from contact with the peripheries of the car-wheels. Should any force be applied to depress the bar A against the action of its spring 0, it would result in pressing the brake-shoes against the peripheries of the wheels.

As the straps G G and the loops H H admit of motion of the shoes up and down within certain limits, it is obvious that when the wheels are moving in theforward direction the frictional engagement of the brake-shoes with the peripheries of the two foremost wheels of a truck will result in the elevation of the brakeshoes until their upper ends strike against the lower sides of the hangers Gr G. This will cause the elevation of the perpendicular stopbar I. At the same time the brake-shoes will be in engagement with the peripheries of the rearmost wheels of the truck, but will not be elevated, as j ust described, because the motion of these rearmost wheels will be in a direction with respect to their brake-shoes which will tend to depress and not to elevate them, the result of which is, that the other perpendicular stop-bar, I, will remain in its normal position with its upper end about on a level with the block K.

The next part of my invention consists in mechanism (which I will now describe) for automatically operating the parts just described in the manner explained for braking and unbrakmg.

L indicutes a sliding frame working in suitable ways underneath the car-body and con nected to the ordinary springdraw-bar, M. At-

tached to this slidingframe is a doubleincline or cam, N, which maybe an inclined plane or of curvilinear outline, or both, combined on its face. This cam is so adjusted and secured upon IOU springs is eizetred in either direction, so as to retract the draw-bars to thelimitof their throw. Accordingly, whenever the car is at rest, or whenever there is no pull or push upon the draw-bar to overcome the retracting action of its spring, the brake mechanism will be in operation upon the peripheries of the car-wheels; but whenever there is either a pull or a push upon the draw-bar sufficient to move it against the action of its spring in either direction the result will be that the apex of the cam N will be removed more or less from over the top of the reciprocating barA, which will correspondingly release the pressure upon the brakeshoes. But this mechanism for braking and releasing or unbraking, as just set forth, while operative and very useful in itself in most cases, would be quite defective in certain contingencies in the running of trains did I not provide some additional mechanism for such contingencies. Accordingly, to act in conjunction with the perpendicular stop-bars I 1, above described, I provide stops 0 O on the frame L, so adjusted that when either of the stop-bars is elevated by the elevation of the brake-shoes its upper end will be in the path of one of the stops 0 O, and will be struck by the stop when the pull or push on the drawbar ceases and the engine is reversed. The result of this is, that the stop-bars I I cannot be depressed or the brake-shoes disengaged-from the peripheries of the car-wheels when once they have been set for braking, when the cars are in motion in either direction, until after the car has come to a full stop, except by a pull forwarder a push backward in the same direction in which the train was advancing or backing. Thus, should a train be moving forward, for example, and the engineer discover an obstacle and reverse his engine so as to push violently backward instead of pullin g forward upon all of the draw-bars, the cam N would be prevented from going backward beyond the position with its apex over the bar A, and thus causing the brakes to be put out of action, and would be stopped with its apex over the barAin vthe position for the most powerful braking, so that instantly the entire force of the brakes upon the train and the reversing of the engine would be available for stopping. The same effect would be produced were the train backing and were it desired to suddenly stop it.

Again, suppose a car to become switched off from the track and suddenly disconnected from the train by some accident, the brakes will be instantly applied; and should the car wan against an obstacle tending to drive in the draw bar, and thus throw the brakes out of operation, such a result would be prevented by the stops 0 striking against the stop-bars I.

. These stops and stop-bars can be made and secured so strongly that a force sufficient to crush the end of the draw-bar would not permit the brakes to be affected.

Thus far I have described my improvements in a single form of embodiment as applied to a single ordinary truck of a railroad-car. I however contemplate applying them to both the front and rear trucks of cars and connecting them together whenever desirable, as I will now describe.

P indicates an arm or lever pivoted to any suitable support, Q, under the middle ofa car. At its opposite ends are pivoted links or rods R R, which are, in turn, pivoted to the reciprocatin g sliding frames L. These link-andlever connections are so adjusted and applied that when the cars are at rest and the drawbars in their normal positions, as affected by their springs alone, the brakes will be applied upon both trucks.

It is obvious that a push or pull upon the end of either draw-bar will produce the same effect upon the other draw-bar to disengage the brakes as has alreadybeen described with reference to a single truck but when the brakes are applied to both trucks and connected together in this manner it may in some cases be sufficient to provide stops and stopbars upon one set of trucks; or a single stop and stop-bar may be placed upon one truck and another stop and stop-bar upon the other truck, if desired.

In freightcars or other cars where it is only necessary to have brakes upon one set of trucks, one of the rods R B may be connected directly to the draw-bar of the truck not provided with brakes. In fact, it is practicable to dispense with both of the sliding frames and connect the rods It R, cam N, and stops 0 0 directly with the draw-bar; but I prefer the construction above described and illustrated in the drawings. It is also practicable to embody and apply the broad principle of my inventionviz., the action of the draw-bar to work the brakes by the use of links and levers, as illustrated in Fig. 6; but I do not prefer that form of mechanism.

Again, instead of using the arm I rackbars may be formed upon the inner sides of the rods R R to engage with an intermediate pinion; ora spring similar to a draw-bar spring might be employed; or a wheel with crankpins may be used.

Again, by obvious modifications of the levers and connecting parts, the brake-shoes might be operated upon the outer peripheries of the truck-wheels instead of the inner. I

My invention is adapted, it will be observed, to be applied to cars of ordinary construction by merely attaching the necessary parts without material modification, and it does not interfere with the application of ordinary handbrakes to work in conjunction with it whenever desired. In the running of cars,whenever they come to a stop, there is always a slight reaction. The result of this reaction is to depress such of the brakeshoes and such stop-bars as have been elevated by the action of the wheels upon the brake shoes, as above described, leaving the brakes ready to be disengaged by either a push or a pull upon the drawbars in either direction, so that the car, when once stopped,

forward or backward.

is by this reaction made instantly ready to be releasedfrom its brakes and moved again either Thus it will be observed I cause the normal and ordinary motion of'the car-wheels themselves to insure that braking shall take place at the proper time when it is desired to stop the train in motion,

and to insure that the brake-shoes shall also be adjusted for being released to accommodate motion instantly in either direction from a state of rest.

My invention enab1es.an engineer to have absolute control of the brakes at all times unfic. In case of an accident causing the uncoupling of the engine or of one or more cars,

or causing the engine or one or more cars to leave the track, the brakes instantly go into automatic action to stop the train. In going down an incline the brakes also work auto matically to check undue speed, so that the engineer can control the running as well down an incline as upon a level.

I do not confine myself to the exact details of construction and connection of minor parts above set forth, and illustrated in my drawings; but

What I claim as of myown invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In combination with an ordinary spring draw-bar of a railroad-car and with the wheels of one of the trucks of the car, a brake mechanism operating substantially as described, whereby the normal spring action of the drawbar applies the brakes to the wheels, and the ordinary push or pull upon the draw-bar to move the car releases the brakes.

2. In combination with an ordinary spring draw-bar of a railroad-car and with the wheels of one of the trucks of the car,'a double incline rigidly connected with and always moving with the draw-bar, and a reciprocating bar, A, connected with and operating the brake-shoes,

substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3. In combination with the ordinary spring draw-bars of a railroad-car and with the two ordinary trucks under opposite ends of the car, two sets of brake mechanism operating substantially as described, and connected together as set forth,whereby the normal spring action of the draw -bar applies the brakes to all the wheels, and the ordinary push or pull upon either draw-bar to move the car releases the brakes.

4. The combination,with an ordinary spring draw-bar of a railroad-car and with the wheels of one of the trucks of the car, of a double incline or cam, N, areciprocating bar, A, provided with a spring, 0, toggle-levers D D, connected with the brake-shoes, and the stop-bars II, and stops. 0 O, substantially as pose specified.

5. The combination of the spring draw-bar, the frame L, the cam N, the stop-bars I I, and the stops 0 O, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

6. The combination of the stop-bars II, the brake-shoes and their cross-beam E, the hangers G G, and links or loops H H,whereby the brake-shoes and stop-bars may move up and down, substantially as described.

7. The combination of the two Wheels of a truck, the brake-shoes and crossbeam, and

and for the purmechanism for suspending the cross-beam,

whereby the motion of the wheels, when the brake-shoes are applied to them, will elevate the same and the stop-bars, and whereby the slight reverse motion of the wheels due to reaction upon the stopping of the car will carry down the brake-shoes and the stop-bars, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this 2d day of May, A.D.1881.

EGBERT V. S. GHAMBERLIN.

Witnesses:

MARCUS S. HOPKINS, JosEPH I. PEY'roN. 

